“I wouldn’t worry,” Sofia said with a shrug after a drawn-out pause. “He can’t go back. One of his men just saw him run off with a rebel and a dragon.”
Fox felt the truth of the statement, and his heart sank. It wasn’t that he planned on going back. He knew when he started this journey—the very moment he decided not to bring Sofia back to Suvi—that he was turning his back on the king’s men. But there was something in the finality of those words that stung. When would Harlow find out about his betrayal? What would he think?
“Nice uniform.” Clarita stepped forward, two mugs of steaming liquid in her hands. She passed one to Sofia before reaching out to hand Fox the other. He took it hesitantly.
“What are the chances this is poisoned?” he asked.
“I don’t have poison on me at the moment,” she said. He took it as the threat it was, nodding to her, as if she needed his regard.
“Thank you.”
He didn’t miss the small sneer as she turned away, back to the fire and her people. Fox recognized a few of them from his and Sofia’s time together. There were so few of them now.
The older man—Micael—motioned them forward, and Fox was all too aware of how the man stepped around him, keeping him in his line of sight. Fox could feel the sweep of his gaze, and he raised his hands in supplication.
“Sofia disarmed me already.”
“I doubt you need a weapon to kill,” the man said.
“No, I don’t suppose I do.”
Fox hadfive minutes to drink his tea. It was like nothing he’d ever tasted before, bitter and strong, but it warmed his bones and settled his stomach. He hadn’t realized how cold it had been riding onChalia until he sat by the fire, his fingertips burning in the heat. The moment he took the last sip and set his mug down, Micael pounced with the questions.
Why are you here? How many are in the march? How does Harlow know where the dragons are? What’s he planning?
Fox answered them as best he could. There was plenty he didn’t know—things he wanted to learn before he returned with information. But then he was sent away. So, once again, he had nothing but crumbs.
He tried not to let the sense of uselessness overwhelm him, even as he heard his father’s voice in the back of his head.
What are you even doing here? You’re in bed with the enemy, and you aren’t even useful to them. Useless to everyone.
“So they’re headed to the mountains,” Micael said, looking at the rest of their group to get their reactions, “but they don’t know exactly where they’re going? So, there is a chance they won’t make it.”
“They have Eha’s child to lead them. He’s not old enough to know better—he doesn’t speak.”
“Eha?” Micael asked.
“The dragon that Chief Commander Harlow has under his control. They brought her child on the march.”
“Then we get this child, so they can’t use him.”
Fox looked around at the scrappy group of people with a dearth of weapons. “It would be a suicide mission. The dragon is chained, caged, and guarded day and night by a dozen heavily armed soldiers in the middle of the camp. I don’t even think Chalia stands a chance.”
“We must beat them to the dragons.” Clarita spoke this time. “This changes nothing. Once we find them, we explain what’s happening. They’ll want to fight.”
“We need to focus on neutralizing the threat first,” Micael said.
As they continued to argue, Fox could only watch, his own mind racing at the impossibility of their situation. He didn’t want to fight a war. He didn’t want anyone else to die.
“You said Chief Commander Harlow was using the child to gain control of Eha? How is he controlling her now?” Micael asked, drawing his attention.
“I’m assuming he’s threatening the Dragonborn’s lives now to keepher under control. There are a few he’s had locked down in the cavern with her. Sofia’s own experience can speak to that.”
“What was he using the Dragonborn for before that?”
“He’s trying to get Eha to speak to him. She refuses, but he knows she understands him. But he’s also…” Fox looked between Sofia and Chalia, who was curled on the edge of the clearing, her eyes bright in the dark. “He thinks the Dragonborn have a way of controlling the dragons. Not just speaking with them, but actively being able to force them to do things against their will.”
“Impossible,” Clarita said, her voice sharp.
